College/University Campuses Assist in Disaster Relief Effort
Americans have responded in record numbers to the relief efforts from Tuesday's terrorist attacks, and that response includes colleges and universities nationwide. Campus support has come from donations of goods, money and blood to the Red Cross and other relief agencies, and extended counseling support for students and local residents as they try and work through the mental anguish caused by Tuesday's horror.
At The University of Richmond, members of the student EMT squad collected donations for the American Red Cross, as well as bottled water and energy bars for Virginia's state catastrophe teams, which are being deployed to New York to help in the cleanup. Long distance telephone cards were also made available for students who are having difficulty communicating with their families and friends in the affected areas. The university also accepted and transferred any incoming collect calls to the main number for students from concerned parents. By coincidence, the Virginia Blood Supply blood drive was being held on campus on the day of the tragedy and the response was overwhelming -- with more donors than they could accept.
Hope College in Holland, Mich., also saw an overwhelming turnout of students, faculty and staff at the school's annual Red Cross blood drive, which coincided with the day of the attack. The Red Cross team planned a six-hour effort and extended it for nearly five more hours because of the desire of people to give blood -- doubling the number of donors. Hope's students are also working with International Aid in collecting items and donations.
Students at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., have been trying to give blood, but were turned away Wednesday because of long lines. Officials are working to get a bloodmobile on campus to assist in that effort. In the meantime, the Student Government Association began raising funds to assist the Red Cross. "In a time when evil and hatred strike the hearts of all Americans we must not let them emerge victorious. The call goes out to the entire Rollins family...WE NEED YOUR HELP," read the SGA's plea for help. "The goal and purpose of these cowardice and heinous acts is to break our hearts and spirits and shut us down as a country and a people. We must come together as a community and a family and act with true American spirit in support our country and the efforts to repair it."
School officials at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., are also raising relief funds through sales of American flags to students for five dollars apiece. Their goal is to sell 1,200 flags.
Counseling support was abundant at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. The Divinity School opened its building to provide pastoral care to Fort Worth citizens experiencing grief. University Ministries and the Student Government Association sponsored a prayer vigil on the night of the disaster, and a chapel service two days later. The names and numbers of campus offices available to provide emotional support or other assistance to students have been posted on TCU's cable TV station, with the school's Counseling Center also expanding its hours for students who need their services.
The University of Denver Counseling Center shared tips with students and others in the university community about how to cope with grief. The Center has been doing outreach to help students come to terms with their emotional responses to the attacks with particular emphasis on the 170 Denver students from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland. The Office of Internationalization also reached out to the school's international students, providing them a place to gather, seek counseling and listen to news in their native languages. The Graduate School of International Studies is also organizing a blood drive.
Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., has provided extended counseling support for its students and university personnel at four locations on campus, and also set up a special informational "campus response to the national crisis" web site. The site includes important phone numbers to assist the campus community in locating news on relatives who may have been involved in the attack; the official university response to the tragedy, including schedule changes of campus events; and tips from Director of Counseling Katherine Bradley on the psychological responses to the tragedy, including suggestions on coping strategies. The university's service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, is also collecting funds for the American Red Cross, and there will be a university blood drive on September 25.
Blood drives have also been held, or will be held, at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I., and Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Harding University in Searcy, Ark., extended its campus blood drive this week, but is also waiting to see where future assistance may be needed. "Right now we're hanging back until we see what the need is. This isn't like a tornado or flood that you can go and help clean-up," says Student Association President Steve Cloer, who indicated that the Harding community will respond accordingly when those needs become clear.
Much like the relief effort itself, the response by colleges and universities has only just begun.
For additional information, please call Warren Smith, director of news and information at Denver, at 303-871-2660; April Mouser, director of news services at Harding, at 501-279-4398; Tom Renner, director of public relations at Hope, at 616-395-7860; Brian Eckert, director of media and community relations at Richmond, by calling 804-287-6659; Rick Goff, executive director of public affairs at Roger Williams, at 401-254-3252; Ann Marie Varga, assistant vice president for communications at Rollins, at 407-646-2159; Betsy Robertson, director of public relations and publications at Susquehanna, at 570-372-4119; Tracy Syler-Doctson, assistant director of communications at TCU, at 817-257-7810; Tracey Kolodziej, associate director of college relations at W&J, at 724-223-6507; and Christine Tondrick, assistant director of marketing communication at Wilkes, at 570-408-4779.
Feel free to call us at 814-867-1963, or e-mail me at [email protected]. Dick Jones Communications assists all the schools above in their public affairs efforts.
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